Mediterranean Struggles for Movement and the European Government of Bodies: An Interview with Étienne Balibar and Nicholas De Genova

The conversation between Étienne Balibar and Nicholas De Genova engages with the Mediterranean of migration as a multifaceted, productive, and contested space, which can represent a counterpoint to a deep‐rooted Eurocentric imaginary. Looking at the Mediterranean as a space produced by the mobility of the bodies crossing it and by the combination of different struggles, Balibar and De Genova comment on some of the political movements that have taken center stage in the Mediterranean region in the past few years and suggest that the most important challenge today is to mobilize a “Mediterranean point of view” whereby the political borders of Europe and its self‐centered referentiality can be challenged.     

When wildcats feed on rabbits: an experimental study to understand the taphonomic signature of European wildcats (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Felis silvestris silvestris</Emphasis>)

Studies of the feeding ecology of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) demonstrate that leporids, mostly European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), dominate their diet in regions where they are present. The remains of wildcats have been found at Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sites, raising the possibility that they actively accumulated leporid bones in caves and shelters shared with other terrestrial carnivores, raptors and humans. We present the first taphonomic study of rabbit remains consumed by this terrestrial carnivore, with the ultimate aim of understanding their role in bone accumulations at archaeological sites. An experimental study was carried out with a wildcat female, who was fed with nine complete rabbit carcasses. Non-ingested remains and scats were recovered for the analysis of anatomical representation, breakage and bone surface modification. This revealed that non-ingested remains and scats of the European wildcat can be discriminated from most other agents of accumulation. The referential framework provided will permit the discrimination of hominids and wildcats as agents of fossil accumulations of rabbits.     

Seismic Risk Assessment of New Zealand Unreinforced Masonry Churches using Statistical Procedures

ABSTRACT

The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence provided extensive evidence of the significant seismic vulnerability of New Zealand unreinforced masonry (URM) churches. Given the high seismicity of the country, the exposure of human lives and the societal significance of ecclesiastic buildings, for both historical and religious reasons, the reduction in seismic vulnerability of this building type is of primary importance. By analyzing the seismic performance of a sample of 80 affected buildings, regression models correlating mean damage levels against ground-motion parameters were developed for observed collapse mechanisms, accounting for vulnerability modifiers whose influence was estimated via statistical procedures. Considering the homogeneity of New Zealand URM churches, the vulnerability models developed for the Canterbury region were extended to the whole country inventory, and a synthetic index was proposed to summarise damage related to several mechanisms. Territorial scale assessment of the seismic vulnerability of churches can assist emergency management efforts and facilitate the identification of priorities for more in-depth analysis of individual buildings. After proper calibration, the proposed approach can be applied to other countries with similar building heritage.     

The securitisation of cultural heritage

ABSTRACT

It is not a novelty for art to come under attack: cultural heritage has always been endangered by wars, conflicts and political violence. Since the last century, the international community has started reacting, moved by the concern that these threatened monuments be protected. Lately, cultural heritage can be seen to undergo a veritable crescendo from politicisation to criminalisation and securitisation. Accordingly, this article seeks to analyse the pathway that characterises the international protection of cultural heritage in crisis-torn contexts, employing a discursive lens and mapping the narrative threads that the main international actors have constructed in reaction to recent attacks on archaeological sites (i.e. Palmyra) and historical artefacts, especially in the Middle East (namely Syria and Iraq). After having traced this process, we will offer a tentative explanation of what we consider a process of securitising an under-researched field (i.e. cultural heritage).     

The Study of Archaeological Floors: Methodological Proposal for the Analysis of Anthropogenic Residues by Spot Tests,ICP-OES,and GC-MS

The identification of chemical activity residues on archaeological surfaces requires the analysis of large numbers of samples, which can be costly and time consuming. Researchers wishing to apply sediment chemistry often are confronted with a dilemma of which technique to use and how to accommodate sediment chemistry into their budget. We propose an approach to the identification of chemical activity residues in which semiquantitative spot tests, which are cheap, quick, and easy to apply, are employed as an initial phase of analysis in order to leverage the results of more time-consuming and costly instrumental techniques. Three examples that pair spot tests with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis show that spot tests successfully identify areas of interest. This approach can save both time and research funds.     

Mediterranean Movements and Constituent Political Spaces: An Interview with Sandro Mezzadra and Toni Negri

These conversations between Toni Negri and Sandro Mezzadra (November 2014–October 2015) focus on the politics of Mediterranean boundaries and situate migratory movements across the Mediterranean in the geopolitical context of the Eastern and Southern shore. Looking at the proliferation of wars around the Mediterranean region and reflecting on the legacy of the Arab Uprisings, Mezzadra and Negri revisit the concept of the “autonomy of migration” and critically interrogate its possible contribution to the field of migration and in terms of the current refugee crisis.     

Human Rights Beyond Humanitarianism: The Radical Challenge to the Right to Asylum in the Mediterranean Zone

This article argues for a new centrality of the right to asylum within the Mediterranean zone and the necessity to defend and implement this right beyond the “humanitarian regime”. The first section describes the ways in which humanitarianism's logic has weakened the right to asylum through the implementation of specific EU migration policies since 2013. The second section focuses on the distinction between such a humanitarian regime and the human rights system, assessing the possibility of and necessity for a renewed defense of human rights, starting with the right to asylum. The third section focuses on the Charter of Lampedusa, a radical, alternative normative instrument developed through a grassroots process which involved activists and migrant rights groups and which represents a concrete illustration of how the horizon of human rights might be redefined.     

Seismic Risk Assessment and Mitigation at Emergency Limit Condition of Historical Buildings along Strategic Urban Roadways. Application to the “Antiga Esquerra de L’Eixample” Neighborhood of Barcelona

ABSTRACT

This article presents a management tool for the large-scale assessment and mitigation of the seismic risk of urban systems. The research introduces a new perspective for a scientifically tackled holistic approach. The proposed methodology considers multiple objectives, from the identification of the most vulnerable buildings whose collapse may hinder the operationality of strategic urban roadways after the occurrence of an earthquake, up to the proposal of proper interventions to improve their functionality. The approach uses a performance-based approach founded on the concept of urban Emergency Limit Condition. Plotting maps of geo-referenced scenarios by means of GIS software have revealed to be extremely useful to detect the weak points of the urban network and to plan suitable strategies of seismic risk mitigation and appropriate enhancement of reliability. The proposed methodology is applied to the “Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample” neighborhood of Barcelona that hosts the strategic route to the hospital and is characterized by high levels of seismic vulnerability of existing buildings and exposition of its high-density population.